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NY Farm Show opens at state fair in Syracuse

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Aiden Loomis, of Phelps NY sits on a tractor as Chad Edwards of Adams NY pass by during the New York Farm Show at the State Fairgrounds in February 2011. The 2013 New York Farm Show runs until Saturday.
(Photo by Photo By Frank Ordonez / The Post-Standard)

Syracuse, NY-- Whether you're interested in halter-breaking a calf, building a methane digester or kicking the tires on a shiny new piece of equipment, the farm show is the place to be.

Thousands of farmers and farm-enthusiasts descended on the New York State Fairgrounds Thursday for the first day of the New York Farm Show.

Around 400 commercial exhibitors filled more than 200,000 square feet of space in five buildings at the fairgrounds. About 25,000 people are expected to attend the three-day event, said Scott Grigor, show manager for the Northeast Equipment Dealers Association.

Seminars and workshops at the show cover everything from increasing beef profits and the future of timber prices, to information on wildlife and hunting leases.

Grigor said one particularly interesting exhibit demonstrates improved robotic milking equipment. Dairy farmers traded pails and milking stools for machines a long time ago, but the system was still tedious and demanding.

Robotic milking machines cost about $225,000, but require virtually no handling and can milk 70 cows a day.

"Manufacturing used to be all hand labor and now robots are used in manufacturing," Grigor said. "So we've gone to robots to milk the cows."

The New York Farm Show is open 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Admission is $5 at the door. Children younger than 18 get in free.